The widespread use of document reproduction facilities such as the ubiquitous photo copier and, to a lesser extent, the microfiche duplicators has created a significant problem to present royalty accounting systems. These copying facilities have found widespread use primarily because of their convenience for the "fair user" such as students and researchers who seek a single copy of a copyrighted document. Unfortunately, these copiers provide the same convenience for the mass copying of documents by copyright infringers and the present non-automated systems of royalty accounting are not capable of dealing with this problem.
Recent progress has been made in establishing universal numbering standards to permit a digital coding of documents; the standard book numbering system comprises a ten-digit number and the standard serial numbering system provides a seven-digit number that records group identification such as national, geographic, or language information, publisher identification and title of the copyrighted document. The raw copyright data is, therefore, already adapted to a numerical code intended for automated digital processing.
Rapid scanning of digital information has also been developed in the bar code and optical decoding devices such as an optical wand and the like for receiving and inputting numerical data to digital processors. It is, therefore, not surprising to find that others have suggested that the universal book and serial numbering systems be reduced to a bar code on the copyrighted document and that copying facilities at document storage locations such as libraries and the like be provided with an access control system requiring the input of the digital copyright information from a bar code to enable the copying machines for reproduction of the copyrighted document.
The access control systems which have been suggested by others, however, lack adequate input capability to permit a convenient and widespread usage. Ideally the access control should provide for receiving input user information data by a manual keyboard or by an optical bar code and the like. Additionally, the system should provide for the automated recording and storage of the transaction data as well as for the transmission of the data through a data terminal by use of an acoustical coupler and the like to permit use of telephone facilities to communicate to remotely located central accounting offices.